PANEL

Panel made of lacquered and gilded wood, from China and made in the nineteenth century. This small piece of auxiliary furniture presents a varied decoration all over its surface, being an exponent of the taste for decorative exuberance that characterizes the Chinese production of the 18th and 19th centuries of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The rectangular body of the panel is topped with a semicircular piece formed by the body of two dragons whose heads top each of the ends. Throughout the piece, the artist has alternated different wood carving techniques and decorative motifs. Thus, the central part narrates a story of a fight between warriors from a popular novel and dressed in Qing military costume. Immersed in a landscape, the characters perform grotesque movements imitating theatrical scenes. Rectangular bands with floral decoration are repeated on the outside as borders. In the lower zone and on two rectangular boards horizontally, different narrative scenes are shown, separated from each other by ornamental borders. The decoration is visible only on one side of the piece. It is a decorative, removable and portable piece of furniture, ideal for changing its location easily, which would be used in meetings and ceremonies in gardens and terraces. I.C.F. / Extracted from: Isabel CERVERA FERNÁNDEZ: Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta. Asian Art Collection. Granada, 2002.